A/N: Nico said "what if Blaine and Elliott were brothers?" and my brain did this oops. Please enjoy!
When Blaine had first introduced Kurt to Elliott, things had been… tense. Blaine has confidence issues, feels like he isn't enough for Kurt sometimes, like Kurt will get bored and leave him for someone better. And especially when it comes to his older brother, those insecurities tend to flare up. In Blaine's eyes, Elliott is everything he's not; funnier, more talented, taller, better hair, just cooler, really. And Kurt has reassured him, spent so much time reassuring him that nobody – especially not his own brother – could ever come between them.
For a long time, Kurt even believed that.
But, slowly, things have changed. And he wishes they hadn't, god does he wish they hadn't. It's not that he doesn't love Blaine, because he does. He loves Blaine more than he can bear, sometimes. But… he loves Elliott, too. And it's not the familial kind of love he's meant to feel for his brother-in-law to-be. It's the kind of love that should be reserved only for Blaine.
He suspects Elliott feels it, too. He's not sure; they've never talked about it. Kurt isn't sure it would do any good if they did, isn't sure it really matters if Elliott returns his feelings or not, because either way nothing can happen between them. This is Blaine's brother, his fiancé's brother. Even if this was enough to ruin them – and, Kurt doesn't know that it is, he just doesn't know – then he still couldn't bring himself to follow through on anything with Elliott. He knows what it would do to Blaine, and he could never do that to someone he loves.
"Kurt?"
Elliott's voice pulls him from his thoughts back to the real world, and he shakes his head in an attempt to focus.
"Hmm?" he hums in question.
"I asked if you wanted tea," Elliott repeats, an amused look on his face.
"Oh, sorry. Please," Kurt murmurs.
"Coming right up," Elliott says with an easy smile before disappearing into the kitchen.
Elliott was having them for supper, but Blaine got held up at work so it's just the two of them for now. Kurt has a love-hate relationship with times like these; on one hand, he loves spending time with Elliott... but on the other, he can't help but feel guilty for how much he loves it. He feels guilty no matter what he does.
He has to tell Blaine.
It will crush him, he knows it will, and he's not even sure that choosing Blaine over Elliott will be enough to save them once Blaine knows. But… Blaine should know. Blaine deserves to know. This isn't a secret Kurt can keep.
Elliott comes back into the room, places a cup of tea on the table in front of Kurt and takes a seat and sips his own before fixing Kurt with that same amused gaze.
"A lot on your mind today, huh?" Elliott asks.
Kurt smiles uneasily. "You could say that."
"Anything you'd like to discuss with the class?" Elliott asks, voice a touch softer, like he knows whatever is on Kurt's mind is a burden.
It's one of the reasons he loves Elliott; he can always tell when Kurt is upset, and he always knows just how to get him to open up. He's unlike Blaine in that way. Blaine is great at reading Kurt, but he can be a bit too forceful at trying to get Kurt to talk, take things a little too personally when they're not about him at all. But he shouldn't even be thinking this; shouldn't be comparing Blaine and Elliott this way.
"I don't know," he says, trying to brush it off, "it's nothing."
"I doubt that," Elliott replies, taking another sip of his tea. "Try me."
He shouldn't. He should just say no; he knows Elliott wouldn't push him on it again. This is a conversation for Mercedes, or even his dad if he really needed to talk, not for Elliott. But… there's something about those eyes that he never could resist.
"Do you… do you think you can love more than one person at the same time?"
There's a flash of something in Elliott's eyes – understanding, maybe – Before he schools his face again. "Sure," he says easily. "I mean, that's why polyamory is a thing, right?"
Kurt lets out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess so." Unfortunately that's not exactly helpful for him, with the situation he finds himself in now.
"But I think sometimes you might think you love someone, when you really don't," Elliott adds carefully a moment later, voice a little more solemn, and he's looking at Kurt like he really wants him to understand.
"Maybe sometimes," Kurt says, cautious. "But… not this time."
"Kurt…" Elliott trails off, like a plea.
It's as much of an admission as he can bring himself to make. He won't say the words out loud; it won't do any good, will only make it hurt more.
"I don't want to," he says, feels himself start to choke up. Because it's true, he doesn't want to love Elliott, but he's always been a romantic at heart and he loves love and he loves the way Elliott makes him feel and he hates the way Elliott makes him feel.
"Then don't."
Elliott looks as broken as Kurt feels, and that's how he knows he feels it, too.
"How?" he asks, quietly, desperately.
Elliott is silent for a long moment before, finally, "I wish I knew."
"I have to tell him," Kurt says, not so much to Elliott as to the room.
"I know," Elliott replies anyway.
"He's going to hate me." His voice comes out high, strained with the effort of holding back tears.
"You don't know that."
"He should hate me."
"Don't say that," Elliott argues gently, "it's not your fault."
"Then whose fault is it? Yours?" He doesn't mean to snap, but the words are out before he has a chance to stop them.
"Nobody's," Elliott replies calmly, and Kurt is reminded of just one more thing in the list of reasons he loves his fiancé's brother.
They sit in tense silence for a minute, Kurt too close to breaking to speak and Elliott seemingly giving him space, until they hear the door click open and footsteps walk inside.
"Sorry I'm late," Blaine's voice calls from the front of the apartment, "today was just insane."
"No worries," Elliott calls back, standing and making his way back to the kitchen. "I kept everything warm. Have a seat, I'll bring it in."
"Thanks, El," Blaine says, making his way into the room now.
"Hi, love." Blaine's face lights up when his eyes land on Kurt, and he feels his stomach churn with guilt.
"Hey," Kurt responds, musters the cheeriest voice he can find as he stands and lets Blaine pull him into an embrace, gives his fiancé a kiss.
"Everything okay?" Blaine asks, a look of mild concern flashing across his face.
"Yeah, fine. I'm just tired, it's just been a long day," Kurt responds. It's not entirely a lie.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Blaine says, giving him another quick kiss before taking his seat at the table. "At least it's the weekend now," he adds cheerily. "Maybe we can sleep in tomorrow morning. I could make you breakfast in bed."
"That sounds nice," he says, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of his lips, because that really does sound lovely.
"And dinner is served," Elliott says, interrupting the moment to slide a tray of hot dishes onto the table.
"This looks delicious," Blaine says, smiling at his brother, "thank you."
"The pleasure is all mine," Elliott replies with an easy smile, the kind that always makes Kurt's heart melt just a little, makes him uneasy with guilt.
He'll tell Blaine after the weekend. One more weekend to enjoy what they have for Blaine to remain blissfully unaware.
One more weekend before Kurt says the words that could ruin everything.